THE SOCIO-ENVIRO-ECONOMIC SYSTEM (SEES)
THE ENVIRONMENT / NATURE
SOURCE of all VALUE ... EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON NATURE
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#9
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NATURE / SOURCE OF ALL VALUE
EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON NATURE
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GO TOP
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The way we achieve Social and Economic Progress results in
Massive Degradation of Natural Capital. This is unsustainable!
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LAND
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WATER
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AIR
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RESOURCES
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BIODIVERSITY
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ECOSYSTEMS
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Degradation of Natural Capital is an Emerging Existential Crisis
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LAND
Natural
Essential habitat for all sorts of living organizms
... more
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FRESH
WATER
Without water there is no life, and now becoming increasingly scarce
... m
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FRESH
AIR
Fresh air is very good for human health and longevity
... more
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BIODIVERSITY
FAUNA
Animals, birds, fish, reptiles, insects and other life forms
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But economic performance is driving decision more than anything else
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LAND
Agricultural
Huge land areas now used for agriculture
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OCEAN
WATER
A huge energy sink, and where all the world's garbage accumulates
... m
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INDUSTRIAL
POLLUTION
Energy and industry are responsible for most pollution
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BIODIVERSITY
FLORA
Millions of species of plants that occupy a complex ecosystem
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There is pollution everywhere ,,, but nobody is accountable!
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LAND
Built up
Much land now built over with various types of economic development
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POLLUTED
WATER
A huge energy sink, and where all the world's garbage accumulates
... m
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POLLUTED
WATER
A huge energy sink, and where all the world's garbage accumulates
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FOREST
MANAGEMENT
Millions of species of plants that occupy a complex ecosystem
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But this is a choice the powerful are choosing to make
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MINERAL
RESOURCES
The raw materials for most of the useful products we use every day
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MINERAL
RESOURCES
The raw materials for most of the useful products we use every day
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FOSSIL
FUELS
The sources of power that made the industrial revolution possible
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CLIMATE
SYSTEMS
The essential mechanisms that have kept the climate stable until now
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But this is a choice the powerful are choosing to make
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ECOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS
The many mechanisms that serve to recycle everything in nature
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BIODIVERSITY
FLORA
Millions of species of plants that occupy a complex ecosystem
... m
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INDUSTRIAL
POLLUTION
Energy and industry are responsible for most pollution
... m
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BIODIVERSITY
FLORA
Millions of species of plants that occupy a complex ecosystem
... m
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There is pollution everywhere ,,, but everyone avoids accountability!
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To improve quality of life, nature has been exploited, depleted and degraded, but this is NOT sustainable.
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The State of the Environment / Natural Capital
Rapidly degrading but ignored in conventional financial and economic analysis
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Value Add ... the Contributions of Nature
Natural Systems are incredibly efficient, but operate very slowly unless the normal
equilibriums are disturbed, in which case there can be catasrophic dysruption
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Value Loss ... the Depletion and Degradation of Nature
Industry and Consumption has been responsible for the Depletion of Natural Resources
and the Degradation of the Environment since the beginning of the industrial era at zero cost
to the participants who have benefitted financially. This was wrong and must be changed.
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ECOLOGICAL
SYSTEMS
The many mechanisms that serve to recycle everything in nature
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BIODIVERSITY
FLORA
Millions of species of plants that occupy a complex ecosystem
... m
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INDUSTRIAL
POLLUTION
Energy and industry are responsible for most pollution
... m
|
BIODIVERSITY
FLORA
Millions of species of plants that occupy a complex ecosystem
... m
|
|
To improve quality of life, nature has been exploited, depleted and degraded, but this is NOT sustainable.
|
The State of the Environment / Natural Capital
Rapidly degrading but ignored in conventional financial and economic analysis
|
Value Add ... the Contributions of Nature
Natural Systems are incredibly efficient, but operate very slowly unless the normal
equilibriums are disturbed, in which case there can be catasrophic dysruption
|
Value Loss ... the Depletion and Degradation of Nature
Industry and Consumption has been responsible for the Depletion of Natural Resources
and the Degradation of the Environment since the beginning of the industrial era at zero cost
to the participants who have benefitted financially. This was wrong and must be changed.
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The critically important role of natural capital and natural systems
Nature ... natural capital and natural systems ... are of vital importance and the ultimate source of all value. The sun is the source of all energy, and a multitude of natural systems convert this energy into all sorts of other forms.
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NATURAL CAPITAL / ENVIRONMENT
... m
Social and Economic Progress has been achieved by the depletion and degradation of Natural Capital
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Social and Economic Progress has been achieved in large part
by the depletion and degradation of Natural Capital
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Value Loss ... the Depletion and Degradation of Nature
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LAND
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WATER
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AIR
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RESOURCES
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BIODIVERSITY
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ECOSYSTEMS
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- Industrial production, agriculture and consumption by people are combining to deplete and degrade Natural Resources.
- Economic performance metrics have excluded and the depletion and degradation of the Environment since the beginning of the industrial era.
- People who have benefited financially have never been held to account regarding Natural Capital costs
- To improve quality of life for people, nature has been exploited, depleted and degraded, but this is NOT sustainable.
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Value Add ... the Contributions of Nature
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LAND
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WATER
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AIR
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RESOURCES
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BIODIVERSITY
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ECOSYSTEMS
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- Everything depends on natural systems ... this is the origin of ALL value add
- Natural Systems are incredibly complex, massive in scale, efficient and usually slow.
- When normal equilibriums are disturbed, there can be catasrophic dysruption.
- Modern industrial processes are disturbing natural systems on a massive scale which is likely to be catastrophic.
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OVERVIEW
NATURAL CAPITAL / NATURE / ENVIRONMENT
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AIR POLLUTION
Air pollution has been a dangerous bye-product of the industrial age. Many of the highly visible air pollutants have been controlled more stringently in recent years but not the invisible gases like carbon dioxide and methane which are greenhouse gases associated with global temperature rise and all its consequences.
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Open L0700-CS-NC-AIR-pollution
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FRESH WATER
Without potable water there is no life, and now becoming increasingly scarce because of the massive consumption of water in modern industrial and agricultural systems, the increase in our global human population, and the changing weather patterns caused by global warming and gereenhouse gases.
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Open L0700-CS-NC-WATER-FRESH
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OCEAN WATER
The oceans are huge and an important part of the global ecosystem. They are a huge energy sink, and a very small rise in temperature represents a very large increase in their stored energy. Storm systems pull energy and water (as water vapor) from the oceans, and with higher temperatures the quantity of both energy and and water increase dramatically as manifested by the size of recent tropical storms.
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Open L0700-CS-NC-WATER-OCEAN
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WATER POLLUTION
Even though the oceans are huge, the waste from the industrial production that serves our high consumption society has now reached a scale that even the oceans cannot cope.
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Open L0700-CS-SS-POLLUTION
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| | The text being discussed is available at
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